Area 2: Reducing Crime for Girl in the Juvenile Justice System through Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships

Adolescent girls are the fastest growing segments of the juvenile justice (JJ) population. However, according to research by the U.S. Department of Justice, there are currently no effective interventions for this population. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention, called ROSES (Resilience, Opportunity, Safety, Education, Strength), using a rigorous randomized controlled trial research design. ROSES is a 1 0-week, individualized and comprehensive intervention designed based on national recommendations for gender responsive programming. Preliminary data suggest promising results, feasibility, and high satisfaction reported by girls. This proposal seeks to determine whether ROSES meets criteria for effectiveness by comparing outcomes for girls in the JJ system randomly assigned to receive either the ROSES (N=150) or a control condition (N=150). Violent, drug, and other offenses (e.g., running away), mental health, and recidivism data will be collected at 5 time points for an ethnically and racially diverse sample of girls aged 12-17. Data include validated and reliable youth and parent reports, clinical-rated mental health symptoms, drug urinalysis, recidivism, and interviews with JJ practitioners. The author has partnered with key stakeholders from the New York City (NYC) Administration for Children's Services, Division of Youth and Family Justice (DYFJ). DYFJ has identified reducing girls' crime as a key challenge in NYC, and the ROSES intervention was piloted in NYC to ensure feasibility. This project will evaluate ROSES through researcher placement (Area 2) within DYFJ. Specific aims include: 1) examine the extent to which youth, parent, and clinician-reported outcomes are better at mid-treatment (Time 2), immediately post-treatment (Time 3), and 6-month follow up (Time 4) for ROSES versus control, 2) examine whether recidivism and drug use (urinalysis) is reduced 1 year and 6 months, respectively, post-intervention for ROSES versus control, and 3) identify key strategies for reducing girls crime through interviews with DYFJ stakeholders. For aims 1 and 2, multivariate and repeated measures analysis of variance will examine changes in outcomes between intervention and control groups over time. For aim 3, consensual qualitative research will generate emergent themes in DYFJ interviews. This project will generate full datasets, interim/final reports of evaluation findings, newsletters for a general audience, a practitioner-oriented intervention manual, and peer-reviewed publications for the scientific and practitioner communities. This project can promote effective practice for girls involved in the juvenile justice system, impact policy (e.g., ROSES as an alternative to incarceration), and build theory regarding how to reduce girls' crime. ca/ncf